A Camping We Will Go

The Hubbs, for those of you that don't know, is an Eagle Scout...which means he loves all things outdoorsy.  Ha ha and I on the other hand, am not such a fan of the bugs or heat that typically accompany the great outdoors.  But I have also come to terms with the fact that my Little Man is very much a fan of the outdoors!  So for our vacation this year, we decided to take Jay on his very first camping trip. 

We had originally planned to go to Lake Ouichita in Arkansas, but after a round of rather nasty storms...the state had to close the entire park!  Which meant we had to find a whole new place to camp at the last minute.  Fortunately, we were able to find a state park, Beaver's Bend, in Oklahoma that is in the same national forest as the park in Arkansas.  It boasted a spring fed crystal clear mountain lake and river with the cooler temperatures and family friendly trails we were looking for, and it was only about a four hour drive from our house!  So we packed up the car (so much so that we barely fit) and headed out.

And I have to say that we had an absolute blast!!!  The park was absolutely beautiful and I think we had the best camping site in the entire park.  We went early enough that there weren't many people, and the cooler temperatures kept the mosquitoes away.  We hiked, fished, and even went for a canoe trip!  We cooked all kinds of fun campfire meals, and countless smores.  We even made some wonderful new friends (Hello guys!)  The Hubbs made fun of the 8 person tent I bought, but we sure had plenty of room, and we slept in complete comfort on our air mattress.  :0)  Ha ha I think my version of camping was a little bit different from what The Hubbs is used to, but it worked for us, and I would do it again in a heart beat!

Here are some of my favorite pictures from our trip:

Broken Bow Lake:

 Steam rising off the lake water by our campsite one morning:

The Boys hunting for crayfish on the river:

Our Campsite:

Jay with one of the crayfish they caught:

Jay roasting a Peep to make smores:

The Hubbs teaching Jay how to start a campfire:

Our Nightly Visitor:

(He liked peanut M&Ms and marshmallows!)

And here is a slide show with some more pictures (There were just WAY too many to fit them all into a blog post!)


If you are looking for a fun place to camp, I can recommend this one for sure!  We stayed in the Blue Jay campground in site 12, and it was gorgeous!  I think it was the best campsite in the whole park!!  We had water on three sides, and some seriously stunning views of the lake.  It is also on a smaller outcropping of the lake, so it was very quiet and peaceful.  But I used the bathhouse in the Armadillo campground just down the road because it was much cleaner (smelled like bleach!) and the hot showers seemed to last forever.  I have learned that I can do camping, but not without a good hot shower and my coffee!  :0) 

We had so much fun that we're thinking of planning another big camping trip next year!  Maybe we'll check out some place like Big Bend, Yellowstone, or the Grand Canyon...